New Family
by ManaMatchbox
Summary: When Mikasa spends her day off training and thinking of why Eren might not want her around, an old friend comes to her and assures her that she won't be left alone. Not when she's got those that care about her: A family. ArminxMikasa fluff


Hello!~ This is my first story and I really hope you enjoy it. Just a heads up,

This is not an ErenxMikasa fic, It's an ArminxMikasa fic. It might seem a little Eren and Mikasa-ish in the beginning, but that's just because they're close. I definitely see them as brother and sister sooooo onto the story!~

Disclaimer: I definitely do not own Shinkgeki no Kyojin or its characters. If I did, this pairing would be canon. T-T

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**New Family**

Fly. Jump. Slice. _Kill._

Mikasa's routine was fairly repetitive if the trained eye could get past the admiration of her grace. However, her movements were shaky at this hour. No, Mikasa was not out on a mission, frankly, she didn't think anyone knew she was here. It was a day off for everyone and while the rest of her friends relished in inactivity and company, Mikasa was training. Why was she training? She was already a top soldier. Her skill came naturally and with the slightest of ease; training was childsplay. '_Why would he do that..'_ Mikasa thought as she landed with a puff of dust. '_He needs to be protected..'_

It was a fairly simple gesture that meant everything to Mikasa. Survey Corps was taking Eren training to increase his skills with his Titan form and only a few were allowed to go to note his performance. Mikasa recalled when he awoke as a Titan and lost control. She didn't want that happening again so she began following the group but was stopped by Hanji and Corporal Levi who were two of the few who were going to observe Eren's training. "I'm sorry, Mikasa, but you aren't signed up for this.." Mikasa's expression remained emotionless although a bit preturbed. "Doesn't matter, I need to be there in case he loses control again." Corporal Levi was the one to reply, "And what will you being there do." His disinterested voice practically made the question a statement. Mikasa rebuffed his 'question' as she spotted Eren walking with another scholar in the Survey Corps. "Eren!" Mikasa called out to him. He turned to see Mikasa with Levi and Hanji and by the looks of it, Hanji was uncomfortable while Levi simply looked irritated. She walked up to Eren and before he could ask what she was doing there, she said, "Tell them to let me go with you." "Why are you here?" he asked. She _was_ supposed to be helping the less adequate cadets train and improve, but disregarded her orders to keep watch over Eren . "I'm going to be there in case you-" she was stopped short by Eren's loud grunt of disapproval. She blinked as he was about to speak, but he was dragged away by a more than fed-up Levi.

And that was why she was there. '_Why didn't he make them let me stay? He even seemed against it himself.'_ Her hand became a bit wobbly as the practice dummy fell to her experienced blade. '_I need to protect him.'_ She stopped and sighed but quickly became alert when the familiar sound of 3DMG cables met her ears. '_Eren..!'_ Mikasa smiled, '_He's come to apologize, no doubt. I need to remind him not to let his temper get the best of him, again.'_ But as she stood up, she felt the presence to not be the energetic and somewhat angry aura of her adoptive brother, but a serene one that reminded her of a peaceful time. She whipped around to find blue eyes.

_'Armin.'_

"Oi, Mikasa! the whole Regiment's been wondering where you were off to!" Armin spoke as he made his way over to her. _'His face is red but his breathing isn't labored at all,' _ She analyzed. Mikasa felt a twinge of pride as she realized that Armin's stamina has improved.

"Armin. What are you doing out here? How is Eren?" Instead of answering, Armin inspected the practice dummies littered around the grounds as his eyebrows slightly furrowed. "Armin?" Mikasa repeated. He met her eyes and simply asked, "Are you okay, Mikasa?" Mikasa paused but quickly answered. "Yes, why do you ask?" Armin let out a minimal sigh and walked over to one of the more dilapidated dummies.

As he walked by her, Mikasa took note of Armin's physique and mused silently. '_He won't admit it, but his physique has been improving. Armin really needs to get out of the mindset that he's weak. His stance seems stronger and his shoulders are broader...Wait..was I.?' _Mikasa left that thought unfinished as Armin picked up the dummy and examined the cuts. "This isn't your usual style. See the cuts are still similarly deep, but not as clean as you tend to cut it." Mikasa glanced at the cut he referred. "It looks the same to me, Armin." He stood and clapped the dirt off his hands. Walking toward a more grassy area, Armin sat down with Mikasa following soon after. Armin knew that Mikasa was off, but instead of interrogating her directly, he simply sat with her. "Alright," Armin turned to face her, "Do you want to head back now? You sure look like you're done with training and I saved you some food, although..."

Armin trailed off and Mikasa glanced at him. "Armin? What is it?"

He continued, "I saved you some food... Although I can't guarantee Sasha hasn't eaten it yet!" He gave her a playful grin. Mikasa let herself smile and give a little huff of amusement. No doubt, if there was unmanned food, it would take at least Reiner and Jean to hold her down. Speaking of the guys, Mikasa returned to her previous train of thought. "So how is Eren?"

Armin took a moment to answer, "He's been lazing around mostly. After that training yesterday, it seems he's only been getting up for food and other necessities, but he's really enjoying the day off from what I've gathered." A silent moment passed and a glint of light caught Mikasa's eye. The light of sunset was reflecting of Armin's golden hair and gave him an evanescent halo. The light breeze added to the effect. "Did anything happen between you and Eren?" Her breath hitched. Why did Armin have to be so perceptive? "If you don't want to answer, Mikasa, that's fine. What's between you two isn't my business."

Mikasa shook her head. "It's just that..Eren didn't want me there at training with him."

Armin's eyes slightly widened. "He said that to you?" Armin knew that Eren felt a bit like Mikasa babied him, but he never shunned Mikasa, _ever._ His eyes held concern. Although Mikasa was one of, if not the, toughest people he knew, he knew just as well as Eren that the Oriental girl feared being alone. "Not exactly..He grunted."

"Eh?"

If Mikasa was in the mood, she would have laughed at Armin's confused stare. Here was their brightest, sharpest tactician and she had stumped him with four words. The face he made was quite endearing, actually. _'I can see him trying to make sense of it..How cute.'_ Mikasa frowned slightly. _'This is odd. Why am I noticing all these things? It's probably the light. He really does look good in a sunset..Tch. Stop that.'_ "When I tried to tell him I would be there to make sure he was safe, he grunted like he was angry." She could hear Armin snort softly and she smiled a bit herself. Yeah, Eren and angry go hand-in-hand, it really shouldn't be surprising. She continued, "It sounded like he was angry that I wanted to be there.." It then struck to Mikasa how pathetic she sounded. Here she was wallowing in silence over a _noise_ that Eren made. She stared straight ahead as she didn't want to be met with Armin's no doubt incredulous look at how petty she was being. A hand on her shoulder roused her to turn her head and instead of what she expected, a tender and incredibly caring stare met her own. _'Of course. It's Armin. He's the last person who would look at me like I was an idiot.'_ After Armin felt she had gotten over her embarrassment, he gave her a small smile and rubbed her shoulder reassuringly. Mikasa admitted it felt nice..having someone reassure you, that is.

"Actually, Eren may have told me about that." "Heh? What did he say?"

Armin readjusted himself before speaking so that he sat cross-legged and was looking up at the sky. "Well, he was a little angry that you were trying to get into the training.." He saw her gaze sadden and quickly flustered out a, "N-Not because he didn't want you there!" Mikasa saw the red look on his face and sighed. '_His kindness really is remarkable,' _she thought. _'As well as that adorable flustered look..'_ Mikasa sat straight up. Mikasa heard female soldiers gossip and talk about men every dinner whether she wanted to or not and that very thought sounded just like one of their mindless drabbles. She was quickly growing tired of these random thoughts of Armin. _'They're just getting confusing.' _She glanced at Armin and it was clear he was waiting for a response from her. "So why was he angry?" She asked in true curiosity.

"You had another job assigned to you, right?" Armin asked. She blinked. "Yes, but you really can't be saying that Eren is mad because I _defied orders_, can you?" Armin laughed and it even got a chuckle out of Mikasa herself. "Not at all, but.. You were assigned to train the lower quartile soldiers."

"Yes."

"But you left and went to watch Eren."

"Yes, Armin." His name felt right on her tongue.

Armin sighed and suddenly a haze clouded his eyes as he looked away. "People have really been going on about how we keep sending soldiers to their death." Where had this come from? Mikasa decided to keep quiet and let him continue. "Top class soldiers make it just fine.. but there are still so many cadets that find themselves to weak to do anything. Some

military officials really felt that if they got a bit more effort and some more training, they would have a better chance of surviving." Silence came between them.

"Eren thought it was a good idea, too."

And just like that, Mikasa understood. She was supposed to be helping the weak to become stronger so they could have a chance in this cruel world. Yet there she was, off to babysit Eren. Letting out a sigh, Mikasa laid down on the grass. "I see." Armin sensed her shift in guilt and looked down at her. It was when he put his hand on hers that she noticed she had them clenched into fists. "Mikasa.." She closed her eyes and noticed the slightly breathy way he spoke her name. Or was it just her? "Don't feel guilty. You worried that Eren could have lost control like he did before. You just wanted to be there to knock some sense into him if he did. Eren's your family and no one can hold it against you if you thought of him first." He shifted a little, "Taking care of your family is important." Opening her eyes, Mikasa was met with the determined and gentle blues of Armin. A chord was strung in her heart.

_Taking care of your family is important._

She could see it in his eyes that he was thinking about his own. Mikasa had Eren and Eren had Mikasa, but Armin was alone when it came to family. His grandfather was his last relative before he was sent off to 'retake' Wall Maria. Armin stood himself up and offered a hand to Mikasa, but when she did not take it, he crouched back down.

"Mikasa?"

Reaching up, a soft, yet scarred hand cupped Armin's face that loomed over her. Whether it be the quickly diminishing red sunlight or her imagination, Mikasa swore she saw a tinge of pink on the blonde boy's face.

"Armin. What I am going to say is very important so be sure to remember, okay?" Armin smirked a little at the simplistic way she spoke to him as though he were a child but straightened his face and gave her a nod. Closing her eyes again, Mikasa stroked his cheek with her thumb and opened her eyes to speak. "You are family, Armin."

The blonde seemed slightly taken aback, but furrowed his brow, expecting her to continue.

"Eren, you, and I are family," She said as she sat up and enveloped him in a hug. She could tell he had not anticipated her action by the way he tensed up, but he relaxed soon after. Before letting go, she said, "We'll take care of each other." Armin's face was blank before it broke out into a soft, yet powerful smile as he once again stood up and offered Mikasa his hand. She gratefully took it and rose to his level. "So does that make me Eren's brother?" Armin joked as they made their way back to the others, the sun already bidding farewell and promising to return with a full day of work ahead of them.

_'Or his brother-in-law.'_ Mikasa blushed profusely.

Well that was worth staying up late! There are literally no Armikasa fics for Shinkgeki no Kyojin and I know people that ship it and are starving.

BUT IT'S SUCH A CUTE PAIRING. COME ON.

Anyway, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed the story, sorry if Mikasa seems a little off. Her character really is hard to write, especially her thoughts.

I might do more Armikasa considering the great lack of it on here but I dunno, I just kinda did this on a whim so I don't know when or if I can do more.

I'll certainly try!


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